


a love letter through the seasons

by unbelievably62



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, Sort Of, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and of course a lot of tenderness, some amusing misadventures too!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26626090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbelievably62/pseuds/unbelievably62
Summary: spring, summer, autumn, winter - how the seasons capture all the things Bow loves about Glimmer and their relationship
Relationships: Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	a love letter through the seasons

**Author's Note:**

> just a bunch of fluff with no plot lol! a collection of ponderings and vignettes i guess :-) i wanted to try something a little bit different, hope you enjoy it nonetheless! 
> 
> also i had no idea if etheria has seasons or not, so i just decided to situate them in a vaguely modern-ish setting instead haha 
> 
> inspired by a song i really love from Camelot, called "If Ever I Would Leave You"

**i. spring**

Glimmer in springtime is pretty. 

It’s the one season in the year that her hair (and her whole aesthetic, really) fits in with the landscape the best. Amidst the pinks and purples and other bright colours of the blooming flowers all around them, Glimmer is Bow’s own little flower. The Glimmer flower is special, because where other flowers are abundant in parks and gardens and little pots on people’s windowsills, only one Glimmer flower exists in the whole world. And Bow is lucky to be the one spending time with the Glimmer flower nearly every spring. 

But she isn’t a delicate flower, like baby’s breath or lavender, oh no. Beneath the soft pastel lies a very fierce and hardy person indeed, as Bow has come to know very well. From a wild little kid to a rebellious teenager to a spunky young adult, Bow’s had the chance to catch the Glimmer flower in full bloom at different stages in life, and baby’s breath or lavender doesn’t really do her justice, not really. 

She’s more like a rose bush, perhaps - absolutely beautiful and breathtaking, but not without her spiky thorns to protect herself. Some people have accidentally pricked themselves on her thorns over the years, and they shy away from her because of that, but Bow has learnt to love and negotiate the prickles over the years. He just loves her, really, pretty blooms and prickly thorns and all. He couldn’t love her any other way. 

Springtime with Glimmer means walks in the garden. It means her cajoling him to take aesthetic photos of her posing under a flowering tree. And he has to say, he’s pretty proud of some of the shots he’s gotten over the years. Turns out his eye for composition isn’t too shabby, after all. Springtime means endless jokes from Glimmer about wild and untrimmed bushes, that somehow never fail to pull a full-bellied laugh from Bow, no matter how many times he’s heard it by now. 

The spring also involves Glimmer making him pose for pictures for his Instagram too. A particular favourite of his was one where she had arranged a few gorgeous white flowers to frame his face. Sure, he’d sneezed uncontrollably when he’d accidentally inhaled some of the pollen. But hey, the picture turned out pretty good. 

Glimmer in the spring is happy and bouncy. She sweeps him up in an impromptu waltz in the middle of park, humming Strauss’ _The Blue Danube_ under her breath, drawing curious looks from passersby and pulling an embarrassed pink tinge to Bow’s cheeks. But she looks so gleeful and pleased with herself that he just goes with it, wanting to keep the smile on her face for as long as he can. 

Spring kisses are romantic and cute - little pecks all over his face, the backs of his hands, amidst self-conscious laughter as a smattering of applause erupts from the aforementioned park goers. 

Bow loves Glimmer in the spring. 

~

**ii. summer**

Summer Glimmer is _hot_. Hot damn. 

As one knows, summer is the time for swimming and the beach, and Glimmer in a swimsuit never fails to send Bow’s pulse skyrocketing. 

The worst was when she had gone on a bikini shopping spree one year, and insisted on modeling each of them for him when he got home. It had been paradise and hell at the same time. Because he’d really wanted to be a supportive boyfriend and not just some hot-blooded creature who couldn’t control himself, but _man_ , was it difficult. Her pale expanse of skin, the way she trailed her hands all over her hips and stomach and thighs with every new set - she had to know what she was doing. Summer Glimmer isn’t afraid to show how confident she is in her body and damn, if that isn’t beautiful and captivating. 

Bow had mentally applauded himself when he’d made it through her whole collection like a civilised, decent human being. But then he had caught the glint in her eye and the smirk on her face. Needless to say, there had been some pretty vigorous activity for a while, but it wasn’t swimming. 

In the summer, she shares his propensity for wearing crop tops, which means it’s also the time to take pretty photos at the beach, or at the mall, or anywhere, really. Summer is the time they become one of those annoying couples who take matchy pictures any chance they can get. But hey, with both of them wearing crop tops, they are extra matchy so why the hell not! 

Summertime is also the time he gets to see the pink tattoos on her shoulder blades more often than in any other season, and he loves them. Every time he catches sight of them, he’s compelled to plant little kisses on them that never fail to make her giggle or hum in pleasure. He isn’t sure why they have such a hold on him. Maybe they just make her look that much more badass. Either way, he just loves it. 

Summer kisses are smouldering. Sometimes, when they’re at the pool, Bow puts on a bit of a show climbing out, knowing that she loves to “watch the water dripping along his skin” (quoted verbatim from Glimmer herself, thank you very much). And well, he knows he’s got a nice set of abs and arms so why not? Because of that, summer kisses are sometimes biting and desperate and taste a bit of sunscreen. 

But sometimes summer kisses are tired and languid, when they're both dying from the heat and moving just takes up too much energy. And being too close is simply unbearably hot and sticky, unlike normal circumstances. 

Summer days also means walks by the beach or around their block, taking advantage of the long warm days to spend time with each other outside. It means long drives along the winding coastal roads, and picnics on the boot of their car, on a cliff overlooking the sea. 

Bow loves Glimmer in the summer too. 

~

**iii. autumn**

Glimmer in the autumn is playful and relaxed. 

Autumn Glimmer likes to find piles of fallen leaves and cannonball into them like a particularly excited golden retriever. Sometimes, she pushes him into them instead, and other times she likes to run around, kicking up the leaves that litter the ground, her joyful laughter a balm for his ears. 

She likes to try jumping to reach the tree branches on their walks, but often gets pouty when this particular activity reminds her of how short she is. And as cute as he finds her pouty face, Bow is also weak to her whims and fancies, so he lifts her onto his shoulders like she’s a toddler and she excitedly pulls at branches, sending a cascade of leaves down upon them. If Bow’s feeling up to it, sometimes he will spin as the leaves shower upon them, because she will always spread her arms out wide and start singing about how the hills are alive and he thinks it’s the funniest thing ever. 

Autumn is also when the weather starts to get a bit colder, so they grasp every chance they get to walk a bit closer. They bump gently against each other as they stroll to their destination, arm in arm. Sometimes she likes to lean her head against his shoulder, and it’s the one time she doesn’t complain about her height. Autumn kisses are lingering, tender, the kind they pull away from with gentle smiles on their faces. 

Autumn is also the time for Halloween. They always match (duh!) and they take great pride in having won many ‘best dressed couple’ prizes from various parties over the years. They take turns deciding who gets to choose their theme each year and so far, it's worked pretty well. 

That is, except for that one year when Glimmer had decided that they should both wear a full face of face paint, and it turned out that they were both somehow allergic to the paint. Or maybe it was the fact that the paint was 10 years old and Bow had dug it out of the back of one of his drawers in his childhood bedroom. But they _were_ relatively broke college students at the time, so their tight budget had been...understandable. Anyway, that experience made for a very miserable few days, but the fact that they went through it together makes it better. Still, Bow has sworn off face paint for the rest of his life, even as Glimmer occasionally tries to win him over by batting her eyelashes at him. 

When they first move in together, they take great pride in decorating their place ( _their_ place!) and giving out sweets to the trick or treaters. It fills them with a silly, giddy sense of happiness and excitement when they answer the door together, or discuss which sweets to get together, or argue over where to put which decorations. Maybe it’s just the feeling of having people realize that they are a proper unit now, one that's destined to stay together for a good, long time. 

And because of that, Bow also loves Glimmer in the autumn. 

~

**iv. winter**

Now, winter Glimmer. Oh, winter Glimmer is easily the grumpiest Glimmer ever. 

She is tiny and loses body heat really quickly, so she is always bundled up in layers after layers of clothes. A constant complaint over the years is that she hates it because she just looks like a short, blobby sausage with legs. But Bow secretly thinks she looks adorable, with only her face and tufts of her bright pink hair peeking out from under her ensemble. He tells her this a few times, and though she protests, he sees the faint blush and shy smile on her face. Or maybe that’s just because of the cold wind whipping at their faces, he doesn't really know. 

Either way, after a few years of the same thing over and over again, it becomes more of a bit than anything. Their own little inside joke that Glimmer initiates whenever she wants to hear him pay her a compliment.

So during the one year that she’d happened to secure a winter internship overseas, things had been kind of different and sad. It was the first time they couldn’t do their little bit. The first time they had ever been apart for so long, really. It had been a weird, miserable two and a half months. When Bow had greeted her at the arrival hall, the first thing he’d told her, with a smile and shimmering eyes, was that he’d missed his little blobby sausage. And she had immediately burst into tears. To any onlooker, Bow would have seemed like the worst boyfriend in the world, but little did they know that they were witnessing the sincerest homecoming ever. After all, they couldn’t see the smiles or hear the soft huffs of wet laughter that they smothered against each other’s necks. 

Winter kisses are comfortable and warm, as they cuddle beneath a huge blanket in front of a roaring fire with various hot drinks in their hands. Sometimes it’s hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, because they’re extra like that. Sometimes it's mulled wine, which they decided to just buy after they nearly burned down their kitchen trying to make their own. Sometimes it's coffee laced with a dash of something stronger, though Bow suspects that hers contains way less coffee than his, given how giggly and sleepy she always gets after their special coffee nights. 

Winter nights are them huddling as close as possible beneath the duvet like a pair of kittens, laughing as they try to shock each other with their cold feet. It's kisses shared under the covers, it’s wanting to stay in bed in the morning because they don't want to leave the warmth of each other. 

So Bow loves Glimmer in wintertime too. 

~

Turns out, Bow loves her in all seasons, really. And he hopes he can continue loving her for many more springs and summers and autumns and winters to come.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you had a favourite season! :))


End file.
